44 Ways to Lose 4 Inches of Body Fat

Fat: It’s the stuff that gives ice cream its creaminess, pizza its dreaminess, and Nicki Minaj her twerkiness. In the right places and in the right amounts, fat is the stuff that makes life worth living.

But when your curves start crashing over the bulwark of your beltline, it’s time to start thinking seriously about reducing body fat. Not losing weight per se, but burning off the soft, jiggly stuff and replacing it with firm, lean muscle. Too much fat isn’t just an aesthetic issue, it’s a health issue: belly fat in particular is linked to everything from heart disease and diabetes to liver failure, depression and dementia.

So to help you be less large and more in charge, we surveyed some of the most sought-after fitness, nutrition and health experts in America to find out what’s happening on the cutting edge of weight loss.